Picture #6:

As mentioned before, pa ndau are a form of written language for the Hmong. In this example of pa ndau, the story being told is one of betrayal and tragedy. The American forces backing the Lao army and supporting the Hmong secret army abruptly withdrew from the war regions in 1975, leaving the Hmong abandoned in a country run by the communist Pathet Lao (Pfaff). Anthony LoBaido, an international correspondent, writes that “for [the Hmong’s] past allegiance and military service to America, they are being forced to return to a nation that considers them less than human -- to a fate of almost certain extermination.” Furthermore, while US leaders in the White House and Pentagon discussed the future of the Hmong and the war, the Hmong continued to fight on and “were destined to lose one quarter of their entire population, and knew no more of evolving U.S. policies (their eventual betrayal) and practices (fighting to "lose the war" and negotiate a "peace" and eventual withdrawal) than did their mentors from the U.S. Special Forces (LoBaido). In truth, it turned out that the CIA agents who made the promises to the Hmong had no authority to do so or to carry them out (LoBaido). The Hmong unknowingly fought for their own doom and for an ally who behaved more like an enemy, America.

Hmong story cloth depicting the fleeing Hmong during the war.

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